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GAMEDAY: U.S. Natl Sled Team Faces Canada at 2017 WSHC

12/06/2017, 6:00am EST

By USAHockey.com

Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. ET in final preliminary round game

TODAY'S GAME
The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team closes preliminary round action against Canada today here at the 2017 World Sled Hockey Challenge in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. local time (6:00 p.m. ET) and will be streamed in the United States on HockeyTV.com with updates also available on Twitter @usahockey with the hashtag #WSHC.

THE SERIES VS. CANADA
The U.S. and Canada are meeting for the first time this season. Familiar foes, the two teams last met in the gold medal-game of the 2017 Para Sled Hockey World Championship in Gangneung, South Korea, where the U.S. fell, 4-1.
Since the 2014-15 season, the two teams have met 13 times, with the U.S. posting an 8-2-1-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record. All-time, the teams have met on 86 occasions with the U.S. claiming a 23-9-8-45-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) record.

BALANCED CONTRIBUTIONS
Pacing Team USA is Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.), who leads the team with nine points (4-5). His five assists are also first among the team while he shares the goal lead with Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) with four each. In addition, both goaltenders - Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) and Jen Lee (San Francisco, Calif.) - have posted shutouts. The complete team effort this far is a quality head coach Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.) hopes will continue throughout the season and through the Paralympic Winter Games next March.
“We can’t just rely on one guy or one line. We want contributions from everyone and have been pleased to see that so far. Ultimately, we want to believe that at any given time, someone on the ice is capable of scoring, which makes us tougher to defend as a team.”

FOLLOWING FELLOW U.S. NATIONAL TEAMS
While here in Canada, members of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team continue to follow their fellow U.S. national hockey teams.
Yesterday, USA Hockey unveiled the 28-player preliminary roster for the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team. The group, which includes seven members of the gold medal-winning 2017 U.S. National Junior Team, is auditioning for a spot on the final 23-man roster that will represented the United States in the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship from Dec. 26, 2017 - Jan. 5, 2018, in Buffalo, New York.
The 2017-18 U.S. Women’s National Team also skated last night in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where it fell to Canada, 2-0, at Bell MTS Place. The game marked the sixth meeting between the two teams this season. Both teams have won three each. The U.S. Women’s National Team will finish the Time Is Now Tour with one more U.S.-Canada game on Dec. 15th in San Jose, Calif. The game will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network.

GOSSELIN TIES TO 2018 U.S. NATIONAL JUNIOR, MEN'S OLYMPIC TEAMS
Guy Gosselin, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team, has connections with both the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team and 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team.
A University of Minnesota Duluth graduate, yesterday’s preliminary roster for the junior team saw five Duluth players (Joey Anderson, Mikey Anderson, Scott Perunovich, Dylan Samberg and Riley Tufte) named to the squad - the most of any team. A two-time U.S. Olympian, Gosselin also skated with Team USA’s assistant coach, Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass.), at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Winter Games.
Gosselin also grew up in Rochester, Minn., with Jim Johannson
(Colorado Springs, Colo.), who is USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey operations and general manager for both the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team and 2018 U.S. National Junior Team. Johannson also skated with Gosselin and Brown in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Winter Games.